Recently asked questions about conveyancing in South East London

I have just been advised by my estate agent that my South East London the law firm I have appointed is not on the mortgage company Conveyancing panel. What can I do to check?

You need to contact your South East London lawyer directly. It is reasonable to expect your lawyer to notify you what has happened. If they are not on the panel they could put your in touch with solicitors on the approved list of lawyers for your lender.

Have purchased a a terraced house in South East London , how long will it take for the Land Registry to record my proprietorship? My South East London conveyancing solicitor has been very slow, so I want to be sure that my name is registered.

There is nothing unique about conveyancing in South East London registration formalities. As opposed to being determined by geographic area, timescales can vary depending on the party submitting the application, whether it is in order and whether the Land registry communicate with any 3rd parties. Currently approximately 80% of such applications are completed within two weeks but occasionally there can be protracted hold-ups. Registration is effected after the new owner is living at the premises therefore 'speed' is not always top priority yet where it is urgent that the the registration takes place urgently then you or your solicitor must communicate with the Registry to express the reasoning for the application to be prioritised.

In my capacity as executor for the will of my father I am disposing of a house in Monmouth but reside in South East London. My solicitor (approximately 300 miles awayneeds me to execute a statutory declaration prior to completion. Could you suggest a conveyancing lawyer in South East London who can attest this legal document for me?

Technically speaking you are not likely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or solicitor will do regardless of whether they are based in South East London

I’m about to sell my ground floor flat in South East London. Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon, but I have recently had a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as usual as all rents and service payments will be allotted on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date, so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I own a ground floor flat in South East London. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a South East London conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a South East London property is
20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the
Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A
This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 73.26 years.

We own a leasehold flat in South East London. Conveyancing was completed in 2010. I have heard that I should not let the lease length get too low. What is the reasoning?

South East London domestic long term leases are for a fixed term - often just under one hundred years when they commenced. However a significant appartments in South East London were constructed or converted 30 or more years ago and so such leases now have under eighty years remaining. This may seem like plenty of time but Banks, Building Societies and other mortgage institutions tend to need leases to have a minimum of seventy five years unexpired to be mortgageable. Accordingly when you come to sell the property you will need a lease extension if you are approaching eighty years.
To optimize the marketability of your property you should be thinking about whether to extend your lease long before you come to sell it. There are also strong financial reasons to doing so before the lease reaches even eighty years as when the lease is below 80 years the amount you have to pay to extend starts to get a lot more expensive.